Stalling tractor

Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:53 pm

Today I was pushing dirt in the driveway and generally just playing around with my 154. I hooked up to an old disc I recently bought and was pulling it without issues until I hit a slight incline on the side of my yard and the tractor started to stall. I checked the fuel and there was some fuel in the tank but it continued to stall so I went down to the gas station and put 4+ gallons in the tractor filling it all the way up. I then started it up and the tractor ran like a champ and I drove it through the yard with no issues, but I was not pulling the disc. Was my issue that the fuel was sloshing in the tank starving the motor?

Re: Stalling tractor

Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:13 pm

That, or you have loose trash in the tank that was clogging the outlet. Wouldn't hurt to look it over good with a flashlight, etc. and check the sediment bowl regularly.

Re: Stalling tractor

Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:39 pm

Yes, the low fuel level was likely the problem. If it still has the factory pickup tube in the tank, it extends about an inch higher than the bottom of the tank, so you need to have more than about an inch of gas in the tank to keep the fuel flowing. I've done that a couple of times, found out the hard way and had to hike back to the garage for fuel. Looking in through the cap, you would swear that there was enough fuel in the tank, but it's not.

Re: Stalling tractor

Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:03 pm

Thanks for the insight on the fuel pickup being an inch above the tank, that probably explains why it was stalling even when I could see fuel and once it was full the issue went away. I will also pull off the sediment bowl when I have some time. The tractor runs well and a local farm repair shop went through it after I bought it to make sure everything was mechanically sound before I started spending a lot of money on it. The tractor really was neglected during it's life and I have been sourcing parts to fix it this spring as a hobby for me and my 6 year old son. The steering column is rusted so badly that I will have to cut the steering wheel off if I want to remove it so I bought a column and steering box from someone who had parted out a 154 locally and will buy a new steering wheel off the internet. I am really excited about having the tractor for a long time to come.

Re: Stalling tractor

Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:09 pm

Start with sea foam or Kroil on it now. You may find that by spring you will be able to remove the steering wheel with out cutting.

Re: Stalling tractor

Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:31 pm

to what Bill said.

Kroil is a good penetrating oil along with a few others such as Nut Buster, Solvo-Rust and PB Blaster. Continually spraying a bit on the steering wheel assembly over the winter will probably allow you to remove the steering wheel assembly easily.

If the 154 is in pretty rough shape rust wise you may want to investigate the following as it can be done over the winter with very little expenditure of energy in cold weather.

I have my 45 imp/55 us gallon tank working now and the 1600 litre/400 us gallon tank ready to go - I plan on getting a few parts clean this winter.

Re: Stalling tractor

Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:40 pm

Henecton wrote:The steering column is rusted so badly that I will have to cut the steering wheel off if I want to remove it so I bought a column and steering box from someone who had parted out a 154 locally and will buy a new steering wheel off the internet.

Soak the nut in solvent. Then loosen the nut. Soak the shaft with solvent.

Use a bearing seperator to remove the steering wheel from the column. I used the same seperator to remove the steering wheel that I pulled a Cub's front pulley.

Re: Stalling tractor

Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:29 am

Yeah I may try and hit the column with some solvent but the steering nut is so far gone I will have use vise grips on it, nothing left for a socket to grip. Other than the steering column the remaining metal should be easy to clean and prime.

Re: Stalling tractor

Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:00 am

Soak it with penetrating oil and then try to remove the nut with these:

Re: Stalling tractor

Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:49 am

When we were removing the steering wheel from Raymond's 154, we tried using a puller and found that the shaft is hollow and it flared out. We ended up cutting the steering wheel off. The shaft was then filled with weld and rethreaded.

Bob

Re: Stalling tractor

Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:39 am

Bob McCarty wrote:When we were removing the steering wheel from Raymond's 154, we tried using a puller and found that the shaft is hollow and it flared out. We ended up cutting the steering wheel off.

Loosen the nut and run it out until it's even with the top of the threads. Large bolt that barely fits into the steering column with thick flat washer inserted into the steering column. Head of bolt and washer must be large enough to cover/sit on top of the steering column nut. Bearing separator installed. Bearing separator screw/force is applied against the head of the large bolt.